GLS Austria claims to have grown faster than the express market ever since the introduction ofthe company’s Express-Parcel product in the country five years ago and is still seeing double-digit
growth.Klaus Schädle, Managing Director Europe South at GLS, said the company’s express deliveryservices had experienced high demand from the start and GLS Austria recently delivered its200,000th express parcel. “During the implementation phase of a product, the quantities usuallygrow. But when they still grow at double-digit rates five years later, that’s a success,” heobserved.
The parcel operator handles the Express-Parcel product in its own parcel system. “That’s a bigadvantage for our customers: they get GLS quality with many extra options of time-definiteshipments,” Schädle added.
GLS guarantees Austria-wide delivery of express shipments by 5pm or earlier the next working daydirectly to the desired department and the contact person named. If requested, it can deliver by 12o’clock all over Austria, and in many areas by 9 am or 10 am, Schädle said.
Customers can book the express product using the online shipping system ‘Your GLS’ or anothercustomer system provided by GLS, which immediately show the delivery appointment options available.In most cases, shippers hand over their express parcels together with ‘regular parcels’ to the GLSdelivery driver. In the case of urgent deliveries, they call for the shipment to be picked upimmediately.
Schädle claimed that GLS Austria had achieved a 100% delivery rate within the agreed time framefor its express shipments, “thanks to additional, automated controls,” Schädle explained. In thecontrol centres of the GLS depots, all shipping information is collected via data transmission fromthe delivery vehicles, almost in real time.
Where delays occur because of adverse weather conditions, an automatic ‘early warning system’will be activated.
“When it comes to express delivery, absolute reliability is the most important criterion,”Schädle concluded. “This also applies to communication with our customers. They can track theirparcels while on the way nearly in real time using the GLS mobile app.”
